AFTER REACHING SUPER TYPHOON STATUS YESTERDAY, TYPHOON RAMMASUN (BUTCHOY) STARTS TO WEAKEN AS IT ACCELERATES NORTH-NORTHEAST AWAY FROM THE PHILIPPINESEA...WILL EXIT THE PHILIPPINE AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY (PAR) THIS MORNING.

+ FORECAST OUTLOOK: RAMMASUN is forecast to continue accelerating NE'ly within the next 2 days...dissipating continuously as it becomes an Extratropical Cycloneon Tuesday evening or early Wednesday morning.

forming over the central part of the South China Sea has remained quasi-

stationary...located about 615 km. West of Manila (14.0N 115.3E). This

disturbance has been forecast on almost all of the Numerical Global

Models to become a Tropical Cyclone within the next 2 to 4 days. Long-

range forecast shows it strengthening into a Tropical Storm in the next

5 days and may affect Western & NW Luzon this weekend of May 16-19.

Stay tuned for more info on this new potential threat.

+ CURRENT MONSOON INTENSITY: Light to ModerateSouthwest (SW) Monsoonwhich is locally induced by RAMMASUN, continues to affect Western & Southern Mindanao particularly Zamboanga, Western Visayas including

Palawan and Boracay Island. The monsoon-affected areas will have cloudy

skies with moderate to heavy rains, thunderstorms & SW'ly winds not exceeding 35 km/hr today. Landslides, mudflows (lahars) and flooding is likely to occur along steep mountain/volcano slopes, river banks, low-lying & flood-prone areas of the affected areas. Meanwhile, big sea waves or surges generated by this monsoon can affect the coastal and beach-front areas of the abovementioned areas.

Important Note:Please keep in mind that the above forecast outlook, effects & current monsoon intensity, and tropical cyclone watch changes every 06 to 12 hours!_____________________________________________________________________________

* - Based on PAGASA's Philippine Storm Warning Signals, # 4 being the highest. Red letters indicate new areas being hoisted. For more explanations on these signals, visit: http://www.typhoon2000.ph/signals.htm

** - Based on the Tropical Cyclone's Wave Height near its center.__________________________________________________________________________________________>> To know the meteorological terminologies and acronyms used on this update visit the ff: